JOHN Pateman, who died in January, was a headmaster who combined teaching with a career that took him to foreign shores.
Last week, friends and family gathered at the Cemetery in Swain’s Lane for a celebration of his life led by the former vicar of Highgate, the Revd John Fielding. It included tributes from some of his many friends – the publisher John Murray, Michael Harris, Greg Howard and Isabel Raphael, President of the Highgate Literary and Scientific Institution, who recited an elegy in Latin and Greek from the 2nd century BC, an echo of Mr Pateman’s own classical scholarship.
Mr Pateman was born in Leytonstone on August 5th 1912.
He was educated at Christ’s Hospital, Horsham, where he won a scholarship to Jesus College, Cambridge.
He gained a First in Classics with a distinction in Latin Verse composition. He also represented his college at rugby and cricket, playing later for the Eastern Counties.
During World War II he served in the Royal Scots before joining Western Command HQ at Chester. He married his wife Jean in 1946 and then became the Headmaster of the prestigious South African school Hilton College in Natal.
In 1953, he was awarded the Queen’s Coronation Medal for services to education in Natal.
He left teaching in 1953 and worked in recruitment and as a consultant for the Overseas Mining Association.
But he was still heavily involved in education: he supported the Botswana school Maru A Pula, and became a trustee of The King George and Queen Elizabeth Foundation of St Catharine, Cumberland Lodge, in Windsor Great Park.
When he retired, he became Secretary of the Highgate Literary and Scientific Institution and provided help as a book keeper, archivist and secretary to his wife Jean who founded and is still the chairman of the Friends of Highgate Cemetery.
He will be remembered for his courtesy and sense of humour, his gift for observation and poetry, and his awareness of public duty. He is survived by his wife Jean and his children Anthony, Elizabeth and Paul.

JOHN OAKES